1 Blitz all the ingredients in a food processor, then immerse one side of fresh salmon.

2 Leave overnight, ideally for 12-15 hours, until the salmon has taken on the rich pink of the beetroot, while still remaining salmon pink in the centre.

3 Rinse well and serve with wholemeal toast, and a beetroot (fresh and pickled) salad.

Michael Wignall recipe

Montgomery Cheese Veloute by Michael Wignall

Small banana shallot, ½

Garlic, ¼ clove

Thyme, 1 sprig

Chicken stock, 200g

Skimmed milk, 100ml

Montgomery cheese, 400g (crumbled)

Sweat off the shallot, garlic and thyme. Add the stock and bring it up to the boil, then add the cheese with the milk and bring back to the boil. Leave for 1hr to infuse. Pass through a sieve and serve.

Chef’s tip - add one teaspoon of lecithin and hand blend into your veloute to foam and add the professional finish. Lecithin is available from most health food shops.

Mark Dodson recipe

For mains…

Loin of venison ‘wellington’ by Mark Dodson of The Masons Arms

(Serves 6)

Venison loin, 120-140g per person, lean and trimmed.

Button mushrooms, 600g, chopped

Shallot, 1 small, finely chopped

Double cream, 120ml

Puff pastry, 120g, per person

Flour, 100g

Milk, 275ml

Egg, 1

Dried Herbs, 1 pinch

Salt and pepper

1 Pre heat the oven to 180oc

2 Seal the venison ‘blue’ in a very hot pan with a little oil, and then leave to cool on a rack, so that it can drain.

3 Sweat the shallot in a little oil, add the chopped mushrooms and cook until dry, finally add the cream and cook until thick, season and leave to cool before using.

4 Roll out the pastry to ½cm thick rectangle, lay a pancake on top and then spread the mushroom mixture on top of this. Lay the venison on to this and then cover again with mushroom, then more pancake and then fold over the pastry into a tight parcel.

5 Egg wash and seal the ‘Wellington’ well. Leave to rest for about 20 minutes and then egg wash again and decorate before baking for about 30 minutes depending on size and the cooking degree required.

6 Serve in good slices with roasted vegetables, I suggest pumpkin, carrot, beetroot and potatoes.

Anton Piotrowski recipe

Pigeon wellington by Anton Piotrowski

Pigeon breast, 1

Spinach, 30g

Girolles, 30g cleaned

Parma ham, 1 slice

Filo pastry, 1 sheet

Egg yolk, 1

Butter

Lemon juice

Salt and pepper

1 Blanch the spinach in boiling, salted water and leave to cool. Season it. Cook the girolles, finishing with butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Leave to cool. 2 Seal the pigeon breast on both sides in a smoking hot pan, this should take seconds on each side. Put on a resting rack and leave to cool, season well.

3 Place the spinach on top of the pigeon breast and the mushroom on top of that. Roll the layered pigeon in the sheet of parma ham.

4 Fold the filo pastry to the size of the pigeon breast, just slightly longer. Egg wash lightly then place the wrapped pigeon and roll up.

5 Cook to order takes about 8 minutes, get colour on the 2 shorter sides and the bottom. Then put the un-coloured side onto the pan and place in the oven for 2 minutes at 180, then turn over and give 1 minute more. Rest for 3 minutes.

Simon Hulstone recipe

To finish...

Bitter chocolate and Tellicherry pepper tart by Simon Hulstone

(Serves 10)

Dark chocolate 68%, 400g

Large eggs, 2

Double cream, 500ml

Horlicks, 1 tbsp

Tellicherry pepper

Pre-lined and cooked 10inch sweet pastry tart case

1 Bring the cream to the boil with the Horlicks powder and 10 good grinder twists of Tellicherry pepper, being careful not to boil over or burn the bottom of the pan

2 Pour over the eggs while hot and whisk at all times to combine the cream and eggs

3 In a larger bowl add the chopped chocolate and then pour over the warm egg/cream mix. Mix together with a wooden spoon until combined totally. Pass through a sieve, the pepper will have infused in the chocolate but we don’t want the peppercorns in the tart.

4 Preheat the oven to 110oc

5 Place the pre-cooked tart shell on a tray and place in the oven. Carefully pour the chocolate mixture into the tart case until just a few millimetres away from the top. Gently close oven door to avoid shaking the tart.

6 Check every 6 or 7 minutes, the tart will gently set and become firm and bouncy to the touch. This will take around 30 minutes.

7 Remove from oven but do not put in fridge as this will shock the tart and the top will crack. Once sufficiently cooled to room temperature either cut if using a large tart or serve if using individual cases.

8 Dust liberally with cocoa powder and finish with a few grinds of blacl pepper. Serve with vanilla or caramel ice cream and some roasted bananas, or just on its own.

Chef’s tip:Tellicherry peppercorns are larger than standard black peppercorns. They come from India and have their own unique flavour due to being left on the vine for longer.

A classic smooth red for Anton’s main-course. Pigeon is gamey with salty notes from the parma ham, umami flavour of girolles, plus a vegetal note from the spinach. Pair it with an Old World classic such as chianti riserva or barolo from Italy - both are smooth, elegant reds which have matured in oak to soften tannins. A vintage claret from Saint Emilion or Pomerol would also pair well, providing gamey flavours, tobacco and cedarwood tannins. Alternatively, rioja gran reserva from Spain is another good match.

The stronger flavour of Mark’s venison Wellington, alongside umami flavours from the mushroom duxelles, would lend itself to pair with a New World red with bold flavours and firm tannins such as Argentinian malbec or Californian Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon - these are full-bodied reds with ripe blackcurrant and cassis aromas. Australian Coonawarra cabernet or Margeret River bordeaux-style reds pair well too or try petit verdot from Chile, another big blockbuster of a wine.

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